Police: Suspected Drunken Driver Crashes Into Church

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GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. ( May 17, 2014)- One man is in custody for allegedly drinking and driving, then crashing his car into Brookside Christian Reformed Church early Saturday morning, according to Grand Rapids Police Department.

It happened at Brookside Christian Reformed Church on Kalamazoo Avenue and 36 Street. Officers said a man suspected of driving under the influence lost control and crashed into the church. The driver was arrested and no injures were reported.

Brookside Christian Reformed Church Pastor Paul DeVries told Fox 17 News that this is the second time in two years a car has crashed into the church. Since the prior incident, Pastor DeVries said the church modified their landscaping in front of the building to add larger boulders to help protect the church. Yet the car Saturday morning overturned several of these large boulders before slamming into the church building.

Church officials said the car knocked out the brick wall between the two windows of the pastoral care office, but they do not believe that is a supporting wall for the building. Police called the damage “substantial,” but according to the church, the damage is not structurally significant, and they will move forward.

“It will certainly affect the way our pastoral care person does their work because that was their office. We’ll certainly manage, it’s just a building, the ministry and church is not about the building,” said Pastor DeVries.